Only the Losers Win
by gImmecHeese
Summary: Al has just started Hogwarts and is enjoying every second of it. However something is spoiling the fun. He has concerns for his brother, who is being bullied. James may be about to join the new Death Eaters. Post DH. Not slash! DH spoilers.
1. The Train

**Okay, I really suck at summaries AND titles, but read it anyway, it's only my third fic. Please review honestly – don't say it's awesome if it's rubbish. Say why it's rubbish. ****:D**

**This isn't slash. Enjoy. I don't own Harry Potter though, nor do I own any characters in this story. I do own all the ones that aren't in the book though. I think. I OWN THIS PLOT, SO PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ANY ASPECT OF IT. PLEASE. **

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James walked into the train, looking back to see his brother leaning in close to his father looking worried. He was probably voicing his worries about Slytherin. Slytherin wasn't all that bad. There were a few people who fancied themselves as the next Voldemort. Some of them were in Gryffindor. Some of them were… He stopped himself thinking about it and walked into the nearest compartment. It had three people in it. They were all in their fifth year at Hogwarts and he hated them. One, the leader, was in Slytherin. His name was Alexander Carrow, but he preferred to be called Alex. The other two were in Gryffindor, but he guessed they threatened the Sorting Hat with the Cruciatus curse before they were admitted. They were both children of Death Eaters. There was Lucia Greyback – the famous werewolf's daughter and Jason Lestrange, the belated son of Belatrix and Voldemort. He didn't tell anyone about this, but it was obvious. It was also obvious that he wanted to be exactly the same as his father. Alex looked up as he walked in. "Do you want to leave your stuff in the compartment with your brother? There's not enough room in here." He motioned to the wall, where a wooden board had been set up. 

"Okay." Muttered James, looking at the floor. He walked out backwards, carrying his luggage

"And come back here!" Yelled Jason, sounding almost as mad as his mother.

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Albus walked onto the train, finding an empty compartment and waiting for his brother to show up so he could ask him about Hogwarts. After he finally did show up, looking slightly scared, he dumped his trunk into the compartments. 

"I have to go and…" He stopped talking and grinned, "So, you see, I can't be here all journey. See you."

James walked into the compartment and stood against the wooden board up against the end of the compartment, facing the room. He watched as Alex got out his wand and waved it at the windows, which turned opaque. His wand was incredibly sharp, like a knife. He stabbed around James, around the edges of his T-Shirt. It stuck there, leaving him there for all the people in the room to punch and kick him. Which they did for half an hour. After they had finished, Lucia raised her wand. "SECTUMSEMPRA!" The front of his shirt ripped and a cut appeared on his chest. He fell to the floor.

"Well, that marks the end of another journey." Alex gave a spiteful grin, waved his wand and all of James' cuts healed except the one that appeared on his chest.

He ran, leaving his shirt behind to the compartment he and his brother were sharing. Without even noticing his cousin Rosie he pulled another shirt out of his trunk and put it on.

As James turned his back, the light of the setting sun caught something shiny. There were scars all the way down his back. Albus looked outside the window just as James turned back. "It's time to get changed into out robes. Bye Rosie."

Rosie walked out, slamming the door behind her.

"You really know how to handle girls. Why were you bleeding?" Albus stood up, feeling concerned about his brother for the first time he could remember. "So, what are all the scars on your back?"

"You ask too many questions." James blanked Al and just pulled his robes over his head. "We've arrived, anyway. Good luck with the troll!" And with that he left, leaving Al to wonder what James meant by that.

"BUT YOU SAID IT WAS A HAT!!!!" He screamed, running out of the compartment and trying to find Rosie, who James had pushed out.

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**Thanks for reading it! Please review honestly.**


	2. The Sorting

**AN: Woo! I have a reader. :D. (Obviously I have, 'cause if no one read this no one would be around to witness this mistake. :D.) Anyways, Usual Disclaimer/Claimer. I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters that were made up by JK Rowling. I do own the ones I made up, and I have a sword left over from another one of my fics, so don't steal it. Please review if you're reading this so it'll make me look good. Uh, I mean it'll help me improve. ENJOY.**

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Al walked to the boats without really thinking of what was around him. If it weren't for what had happened on the train, he'd be hopping up and down, unable to contain his excitement and nerves. But now he just felt concerned for his brother. There was definitely something wrong with him. Was he being bullied or something? Maybe they were Death Eaters. He'd heard on the news that a group of masked wizards were marching round attacking and killing muggles, and that they'd be in Azkaban in no time. Maybe there was a bunch of them at Hogwarts...

He reached the boats and got in a boat with Rosie, pushing in front of Scorpius who was staring at Rosie. "Stay away from my cousin!" He yelled, pushing him.

Rosie smiled at him. She started rowing as soon as he was in the boat. Al vaguely heard Hagrid telling them about Hogwarts. He didn't care; he just wanted to tell Rosie about his suspicions. He spent the entire journey telling his cousin about James' scars and cuts. When they had arrived, she kept telling him stories about James, about how he had punched her in the face during the holidays, about how he had shut himself in his room when he had gone to stay with them for two weeks in the holidays. After a while, Al stopped listening because he didn't want to hear any of it. It only kept up his theory that his brother had changed in the time that he had been at Hogwarts. He hadn't even annoyed Al on the train that much; he'd just annoyed him at the end. He was expecting him to tell him fake stories all journey.

He was still wrapped up in his thoughts when their Professor Slughorn came to tell them it was time to be sorted. He explained briefly about the houses, but Al wasn't listening. Once he was sorted he'd be able to ask his brother what was wrong. Maybe. He was still not listening when his name was called. Rosie shoved him towards the hat and he was sorted into Gryffindor as soon as the hat hit his head. He walked numbly over to sit with James, who was sitting in between two fifth years. James grinned at him and shook his hand.

"Welcome to Gryffindor! The best house." For that second he sounded just like the James he had known for years. Maybe nothing was up and it was just an overload of homework... He decided not to say anything at the feast.

"Yeah." Al grinned back. "At least I'm not in Slytherin!"

The fifth year on James' left punched Al. "I wanted to be in Slytherin!" He said, sounding kind of mad. "The hat said I wasn't cunning enough."

"Oh..." Said Al, rubbing his arm. "I'm sorry about that. It's a pity you weren't..."

James butted in before the fifth year could punch Al again. "Al, meet Jason. He's Belatrix's son." He gave Al a shove. "Say hi then!"

Al grimaced at James when Jason's back was turned. Unfortunately, the fifth year who was next to Al saw him. She punched him in the face and smiled sweetly when Professor McGonagall gave her a stern look. She stood up and started speaking, but stopped and just said, "Welcome. Good night."


	3. Charms

**AN: Well, here's the next chapter. I still don't own Harry Potter. I do own this fic though, so don't steal it. I will EAT you if you do. :D**

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Al walked up to the Gryffindor common room along with all the other first years. There were five boys and five girls. They all seemed small and nervous. He supposed he must look like he was nervous about Hogwarts and everything. He was actually quite excited now he knew he was in Gryffindor. The one thing spoiling the moment was his brother. Not in the way he normally spoilt things. He normally spoilt things by being sarcastic and annoying, now he was spoiling it by being quiet and withdrawn. And there was something about the fifth years he was hanging around with that just didn't seem to make sense. He hated every minute of not knowing what was going on, he needed to know! He didn't even hear the password as he stumbled through the portrait hole into the common room. He ignored the prefect that had lead them up telling them about how good the common room was for studying and walked up the boys' stairs and into the first years' dormitory. He was in bed way before any of the others had finished talking to the prefect and asking him questions about the school. Al would only have stayed to ask questions if the prefect knew about James. What Al didn't know was that the prefect was actually the girl who had punched him just before the start of year speech by Professor McGonagall. Downstairs, Lucia Greyback dragged James into an unused classroom for a beating.

The next day at breakfast when Professor Slughorn handed out timetables, Al was the last one to receive a copy. He'd half expected to have to look at someone else's copy because there hadn't been enough. He got one and, after reading it through a few times, he found that he had Charms first. Charms was the main subject he'd been looking forward to. Everyone expected him to be the best at DADA, like his father and brother, but he didn't see what was so good about it. The only spell he really needed when someone attacked him was the body bind curse, and they weren't going to learn that until something like third year, by which time he'd have learned it anyway, like his aunt. He didn't eat anything at breakfast because he wanted to find out where his brother had gone. Al had followed him for about five minutes when it became clear that James was just going to his next lesson. It was only when Al was back at the breakfast table in time for everyone to go to lessons. He trudged off to charms, using the marauder's map to check up on his brother as much as he was using it to get to class.

After about five minutes of taking five steps, checking the map to see if James was still in the Divination room and taking another few steps he finally got to the charms classroom. He was five minutes late but no one else was in the classroom except Professor Flitwick who looked up and smiled. "Hello, you're Harry Potter's son? Welcome to Hogwarts. You're the only person here. The others have evidently got lost, please step in. You seem to know your way around Hogwarts so you can have ten minutes individual teaching at the start of every lesson while we wait. Get your wand out!"

Al spent the next five minutes practicing the levitating charm until Rosie Weasly showed up. She jumped up and down with excitement when she saw Al performing Wingardium Leviosa perfectly on the feather Professor Flitwick had conjured up out of nothing for him. "Oh wow, Professor, when are we going to learn that?" She exclaimed, sounding incredibly like her aunt. "I really really want to learn that spell! It's the first one my mother did!"

After that the rest of the class arrived, looking sheepish and lost. He hated the was everyone in his year tried to look extra lost and scared so they'd get house points or something, because the moment he had been sorted into Gryffindor, this place had felt like home. About half an hour after the class was supposed to start, Professor Flitwick started lecturing them on what Charms was and what it was for. Al was the only one who had actually done any learning that lesson. He was loving Hogwarts already.

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**Well, how was that? That was the longest chapter I've written for a fic! It proves I'm getting better through writing for at least ten minutes every day!**

**So, anyway, once you've read this please review so I know whether to write more!!! And if you've subscribed to this, please review! I'm writing this so I can get better. And get moved up to the top set in English and undo a patronising year of colouring in and reading. I'll set Miss Clayton on you if you don't review!**

** -gets out teacher gun-**


	4. Full Moon

**I'm glad you like it! I actually didn't think this was very good, but I'm glad you do. Sorry, you can't take my idea… I spent ages trying to get ideas and finally got one.**

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Al walked out of Charms to get to his next lesson, which was Transfiguration. He kept checking on the map like he always did. He felt like if he stopped checking something would happen. When he realised that James was in double potions with Slughorn he stopped and concentrated on getting to Transfiguration in time. Right on time he got there but McGonagall didn't let anyone in until the whole class was there. So naturally all they got was the animagus talk. After only five minutes of talking the bell rang for break. It was not very cold outside so Al found Rosie as soon as he could and they sat talking, discussing James. Rosie thought they should look again and find where he was at night. It was a full moon so they could steal James' invisibility cloak and follow him. Full moons meant werewolves and there was barely a person at Hogwarts who had never heard of Fenrir Greyback. Lucia Greyback had to be his daughter. At the end of break the two of them trekked off to Herbology without really looking where they were going. Harry had shown Al the floor plan of Hogwarts so he already knew his way around. Just as they were about to go into Greenhouse One Al heard a noise. It was a loud whisper that sounded kind of lupine. "If he isn't with you, I kill you. It's a full moon tonight and you know what that means." Al ran around the corner into the Forest to see the speaker. He saw James talking away, with a girl walking behind him. James seemed to be trying to get away from Lucia as fast as possible and to his next lesson. When James saw Al he called after him to meet him at lunch. 

In Herbology, Professor Longbottom sat them all down and gave them a long lecture that Al didn't listen to. He was dying to tell Rosie about what he'd seen, but she ran off at the end of the class, leaving Al to wander up to the Great Hall to meet James. When he got there, James beckoned him over to an unused classroom.

"Okay, I've noticed you know something about me…" He said, closing the door and casting _mufiliato _on the doorway. "Well… I think you're right. You're not allowed to say it. It's been tabooed. That's why I can't tell Rosie, just you."

"But- but I have to tell her! We worked out a system; she's going to find out anyway. Please let me tell her!" Al got up and pulled out his wand.

"Oh, come on. How many lessons haven't been lectures? What are you going to do? Poke me with your wand?" He grinned and got out his own wand. "Listen to me! _Petrificus Totalus!_" Al fell to the ground and started listening. "They want you to come tonight. Please, they'll kill me! It's a full moon." He looked pleadingly at Al and waved his wand, leaving Al on the floor, breathing hard.

"I'll try." He whispered, feeling even more concerned now. He then ran off to lunch to eat.

Somehow, Al managed to survive through the next few lessons until dinner, when James came and sat next to him. "So, you're still coming tonight? I kind of like breathing. But it would be interesting to see Snape…."

"Okay, I'm still coming." He got up and went to the common room to give Rosie the Cloak. "Follow me and James when we get up tonight. Stay in the common room under the cloak and follow us when we start heading out. Probably to the Forest or somewhere because Lucia's a werewolf and she's gonna kill him if I'm not there." Al walked off to the dormitory to get some sleep before midnight.

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At half past eleven, James ran into Al's room and dragged him out of bed and down to the common room. The two of them walked down to the grounds, where they were greeted by Lucia Greyback, Jason Lestrange and Alex Carrow. Lucia scowled when she saw Al. "Well, I don't get to do any disembowelling. You'll make a mistake soon, Jamesie, and I'll be here at the full moon. Waiting. With my claws out." 

"Now now Lucia, there are only eighteen full moons left of us being at Hogwarts. He might survive." Jason smiled, patting her on the arm

"Well, I suppose I'll have to take the potion…" She said, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah. Don't' worry, you can hurt them as a wolf." Alex smirked, pulling out the cork on a bottle and giving it to her.

"Yeah… We'll be in the moonlight soon. I have to take it." She poured it in her mouth and scowled at the taste. All the time, they were talking about James and Al like they weren't there.

Al pulled out his wand and levitated a rock. He slammed it on Alex's foot. Alex disarmed him and put the full body bind on him. He then proceeded to kick him all over the Forest, stopping to drag him away from the acramantulae. Meanwhile Lucia transformed in the light of the full moon. She still retained her sanity thanks to the potion so she didn't bite James when she scratched all over him. Jason was practicing the Cruciatus curse, firing it at the two brothers so they were both in the most pain possible.

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**So, how was that? Please review so I can get better.**


	5. Look and Learn

**I still don't own Harry Potter but I'm working on it! I do own this fic though, which is a start. I'll set Lucia on y'all if you take this idea. :P Well, enjoy. :D**

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Al staggered back up the lawn to the castle. His brother was trying to explain why he shouldn't worry about the group of fifth years. "Honestly, there's nothing to worry about! They'd only start doing anything like this wider if they were provoked. They'd never be provoked so don't worry." James grinned and wiped some blood from a scratch on his neck, casting an illusion as they got closer to the castle. "Where's Dad's Ha- cloak?" James added that almost as an afterthought. 

Al gulped. If the group ever found out about Rosie there'd be trouble. She'd get beaten up, possibly killed because she'd heard them talking privately. Well, there was nothing they could do. As the brothers neared the door, Al remembered that it would be locked. The Alohamora charm would never open this, even if Al could do it. James didn't seem to be worried. He just knocked, and to Al's surprise the door opened. There was a pale kind of person on the other side. It was a man; he was wearing half-moon spectacles and had silvery white hair. His robed were those of a headmaster of Hogwarts but there was no way it was just McGonagall on a bad hair day.

"C'mon, we need to get to our dormitories before Filch joins in the 'let's beat up the Potters' game." James grabbed Al and hauled him up the stairs, because he had stopped and stared at the place the man had disappeared. "Oh, that's a ghost, you know, dead people," James was eager to find something to patronise Al.

"A ghost… Which Headmaster was it?" Asked Al, who started walking by himself.

James completely ignored Al, getting out a stone and twirling it in his hands. The fat lady jumped up in her sleep and the portrait-hole opened easily. Al was half expecting the ghostlike man to be standing there, but he wasn't. The hole had opened on its own! James didn't seem so amazed by this; he just stumbled over to the boys' stairs and went to bed.

Al felt around the top of the portrait-hole and pushed all around it, but nothing happened. It must have been opened from the inside because James hadn't said the password. After a while he gave up and went to bed.

The next day Al went and found Rosie as soon as possible. She handed him the Cloak under the breakfast table. "So… You want your ha- back? What was James gonna say anyway, hat? Hall? Halloween? Hallowed-"

Al cut her off by a kick under the table. "Shut up! He can't hear that you saw everything that happened last night or he'll kill you! You need to tell someone, write it down or draw it and explain that most of the words related to it have been tabooed." He passed her some paper, "I stole this from Slughorn's personal stores, use it, and it's supposed to stop enchantments so you'll be able to use it. Good luck, I have to go to DADA now." Al ran to the DADA classroom and sat down.

Their teacher, Professor Clayton, stood up at the front of the class. She smiled and waved her wand around. "Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts. It's a fun subject that you'll enjoy. Please get out your books and read it happily. After that, tell me what you've enjoyed about your first lesson!" She sat down, smiling.

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**Well, did you enjoy that? It's short, yeah, but that's 'cause I had an awesome idea for the next chapter half-way through and it would make it seem rushed if I put it in now. :D**


	6. BOOM

**ARRRGH! I am so sorry about that! I've abandoned you all for like… a month or something! Whoops… Well, anyway, I'm going to try and do a little bit every day. Maybe not much, but if I try to do more I'll end up not doing anything. Sorry.**

Al managed to sit through Professor Clayton's DADA class with difficulty. She kept standing up and laughing falsely. The board was covered in scribbling of different spells and a comic strip drawn about the time Professor Clayton had cursed a cat out of her garden. Al couldn't stand her – how were they supposed to learn anything like this?

After DADA, the Gryffindors all made their way to Greenhouse One for Herbology. It was their second lesson of the year so they would be greeted by a lesson not a teacher's monotone about how annoying cats are when they don't keep out of your garden. As they got nearer to the Greenhouses it was obvious there was something wrong. Greenhouse Three's glass was all smashed. Plants were mixed with Mandrake corpses all over the floor, but there were no humans killed.

As Al and Rosie joined the rest of the First Years crowding round the smouldering remains of Professor Longbottom's prized Mandrake family they all saw something else that was wrong. A pile of rubbish was in the middle, as if someone was interrupted while they were making Port Keys. Rosie caught Al's eye and got a piece of parchment out of her bag and pointed at it, mouthing, "I told Maconicall,"

"What!" Al mouthed back, shocked. This must mean that this mess was all because of the three Death Eaters. Because that was what they had turned into.

**Well, how was that? I'm sorry it wasn't longer! I just reread it and it's REALLY short, but I will try and write this much or more every day. **

**Keep hoping that it's more. xD.**


	7. Aftershock

**AN: Heh, I checked how long I've abandoned you all for and it's been about a month, maybe more. Sorry everyone! I'm off school now, so maybe you wont get much. Maybe if there's been a review then I'll update tomorrow (Saturday) but I doubt it, which is a pity because I enjoy this but I'm not stupid enough to update for no readers.

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Al kept looking and the ruin of the Greenhouse for a while after most other people had gone to lunch. Something just wasn't right about it. If the Death Eaters had simply been trying to make Port Keys then there wouldn't have been so much smashing, but the only other departure to compare this one with was Fred and George's and they managed to turn and entire corridor into a swamp.

As he turned to go, he noticed Rosie looking, awestruck at something she'd found on the floor. "It's the Cloak!" She exclaimed when she saw him looking. "James must have dropped it; I'll go and find him now to return it." As she turned to leave, Al noticed that she had to step over something. It hadn't looked like there was anything there. A black shape was on the floor; obviously under some kind of enchantment to stop anyone from realising they'd just seen it. As he bent down close to the ground to pick it up there was another explosion. It was a much smaller one than the one that destroyed the Greenhouse but all the same it was an explosion. The black shape burned and seemed to shrink. It was a little stone that had a crack down the middle of it.

He went over to Rosie at lunch. She hadn't found James at lunch so she'd snuck into his dormitory to put it in his trunk, which had gone missing. Instead she had hidden it underneath James's mattress and run back down to lunch. "So where d'you think he's gone?" She asked, looking around as if she expected him to jump out from underneath the table.

"I think I found something that my dad tried to throw away… He dropped it and James found it. He got something to open up the door to the castle last night! I think it was a ghost of and old headmaster. But anyway, it means the only Hallow still undiscovered is the Elder Wand. I don't know what we're going to do, if anyone kills Dad, they'll be able to get it out the Tomb- Wait! It was Dumbledore I saw!" He jumped up and put his hand over his mouth to stop himself yelling out in surprise. "And that must mean they've taken James. He fought back, that's what blew up the Greenhouse!" He got up and ran as fast as he could to the Common Room, he had to check something. It would mean looking through James's stuff, but it had never put him off before at home.

Al got up to the Common Room in about five minutes – even only weeks of checking the Map everywhere had given him a pretty good understanding of the layout of the castle. James' diary would be in his room if it was still here. He ran faster than he'd ever run in his life. Maybe James had found a way of writing down the details of what was happening so that everything would be fine if he died. Or perhaps he'd just let it happen and eventually they'd used the Imperious curse on him…

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James lay on the floor, breathing hard. The effects of the curse had just about worn off and he was able to think clearly again. Why had he been so stupid? He was going to be the Death Eater's puppet now, doing whatever they wanted him to do at Hogwarts. Maybe even killing people they didn't like. And they'd never be linked to it. Perhaps they'd just force some people to drink too much polyjuice potion then kill them. They would stay in that form forever then, and no one would know anything about it.

Jason walked over to him, stepping over a root on the floor. "Crucio." He flicked his wand at James, who screamed and rolled around, unable to see because of the pain. "Yes, I think you'll do fine." James couldn't hear where the words were coming from but they echoed through his head through the link Jason had opened with the overuse of the Imperious curse.

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**Sooooo, how was that? Do I have any readers that still know what this is about? Well, please review if you read this. I've stayed away from the Wii all day for this and another fic. I still have too many ideas that'll go away unless I write them down! **

**Anyway, review please so people know what an amazing person I am. And the best part is I can't hear you screaming how not amazing I am from here. **


	8. Finding Oneself

**AN: Okay, so I haven't abandoned this fic! (Which is good) but I'm working on another story that I might try to publish. (Which is bad… for the fic) I'll try to update this as much as possible. Okay, so I still don't own Harry Potter but I own this idea. Thanks for reviewing! I don't really mind if all you write is "I read it. Please update soon." I'd rather know you read it than wonder if I was writing to myself.

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James couldn't remember anything that had happened to him for the last couple of days. The last thing he remembered was using the Stone to get Dumbledore to open the door for him. Had he been knocked out then? As he opened his eyes he realised that wasn't true. He was in his bed and Al was knocking at the door to the dormitory. "Come in," He called, surprised at how hoarse his voice sounded.

"James!" Exclaimed Al. He seemed shocked at seeing him there. "What are you doing here? You've been missing for about a week!"

"Have I?" James looked around. There were no calendars or clocks to guess from but maybe Al was right. "I- I can't remember anything!"

"Well… I dunno then, maybe we shouldn't do anything about it yet. I'll have to go tell Rosie that you're not dead. Then maybe McGonagall, because I think she knows something." Al neglected to tell James that Rosie had told her everything that Al knew.

After Al had told Rosie and gone over to tell McGonagall about it he walked back around to the Common Room to find James down there screaming at Rosie. "YOU TOLD HER WHAT?"

Rosie was in tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd take it like this! They've gone now so-"

"THEY'VE GONE?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?! YOU JUST DECIDED NOT TO BOTHER TELL ME SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT?" After he had yelled this he suddenly became calm. "Okay then, I'm going to bed. I'm tired." He walked out, a vacant expression on his face.

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**And I leave you with that. My computer just told me to put I is instead of I'm. I think it needs to go to bed, it's had a long day. Sorry it's so short! I need to do other stuff.**


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